The beanbag chairs, microwaves, walkstation – think a treadmill with a standing desk – and the companion bikestation added to the Kent State University Libraries this year may seem inconsequential to some.
But for students at Kent State, these extras make the space more comfortable, and, therefore, more enticing to use.
That’s the point, said Ken Burhanna, assistant dean for engagement and outreach, Kent State University Libraries. Burhanna, who began his tenure at Kent as a first-year experience librarian, has a passion for ensuring the library plays an essential role in the success of all its constituents – students, faculty, staff, and the community.
“I believe in Kent State and I believe in the libraries,” he said. “My chief goal is to make students, faculty, staff and the community aware of the great services and resources we provide.”
Burhanna and his colleagues designed several programs that help high school students better prepare for college by learning how to access college library resources. The American Library Association's (ALA) Library Instruction Round Table awarded its first ever Librarian Recognition Award to Burhanna last summer, in recognition of his contributions to the development, advancement and support of information literacy and instruction programs.
OhioLINK recently talked with Burhanna about the needs of today’s college students, the benefits of student outreach programs, and the importance of assessing information literacy.
Why a walk station?
Monthly, during the academic year, we gather students for informal, pizza-and-salad-provided conversations, where we ask them what they think. It’s a good venue for students to tell us how the libraries can affect their success. When we asked students what they would like to see in the library, a walkstation was on the list, along with microwaves, comfortable seating and extended hours. We take their input seriously. We had students try out different types of seating – and the library now provides 24-hour access, five days a week. The reason is simple: if students are more comfortable is a space, they are more likely to use it.
Why wouldn’t students use the library?
Barriers vary from person to person. Even though we reach every freshman as part of the orientation process, sometimes students don’t use the library until their senior year, if at all. We are always assessing student needs and triangulating them with student behaviors, to try to improve student engagement.
What role do you see libraries filling on campus?
The library is an intellectual hub of the university. For us to remain relevant and critical, the libraries need to create a space where students can do anything they need to be successful. At Kent, that ranges from creating a Makerspace with 3-D printing, laser printers and a robotics lab to providing a space for math tutoring.
How does the tutoring center help introduce students to the library?
Many incoming freshmen at Kent State need to get up to speed in math, so the library made space on an entire floor for the math department. Each semester 500 students enter the library for math remediation. Once they are here, they often take advantage of our other services.
How do you involve student employees in your outreach efforts?
Student workers, many of whom are front-line staff, are a critical part of our employee base.
We started a global student worker orientation that brings all student employees together at once. This helps us set our expectations for customer service, ethics, safety and security, while also helping developing our workforce. This training gives them the tools to help our users feel special.
How else are you working to remove barriers?
We have a high school outreach program called 'Informed Transitions' that teaches students information literacy skills that are helpful for both college preparation and a success transition from high school to college. Our website ‘Transitioning to College’ also helps the pending or new student with information literacy skills. Finally, ‘TRAILS: Tools for Real-time Assessment of Information Literacy Skills’ is a project of Kent State University Libraries. The Web-based system was developed to provide an online assessment tool for school librarians and teachers to identify strengths and weaknesses in the information-seeking skills of students in the 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th grades.
What's one of your most memorable library stories?
I guess the most memorable story for me (and likely the corniest sounding) is when a Kent State student thanked me for help I had given her when she was a visiting high school student a few years earlier. My colleagues and I have worked hard to help students transition to college and strengthen their information literacy skills, so it was special to have a student take the time to say how valuable she had found the experience.
Why do you enjoy this profession?
I get to learn everyday as a librarian, and I find this extremely rewarding.
What's your favorite thing to do when you aren't working?
I enjoy lots of things. I guess the three biggies right now would be cooking, taking family walks with our new puppy, and investigating my family history.
